In Europe, diesel vehicles are popular because the cost of gasoline is so high and diesel motors are usually more fuel-efficient. Relatively cheap gasoline in the United States has left diesel-powered cars without much of a following (Volkswagen has been the only company to stick by diesel-powered cars for the long haul in the U.S.).

However, the push for greater fuel efficiency standards has resulted in more diesel cars being offered within the U.S. Last year, Audi announced that it would be offering four new vehicles with diesel-power within the United States. This week, Audi announced that in addition to those four already announced vehicle, the next generation A4 destined for the U.S. will also have a diesel option. In this case, the A4 will be available with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder TDI engine.

Current generation Audi A4

Audi of America President Scott Keogh explained the delay in offering a TDI engine on the A4 by stating, "This deep in its life cycle, it didn't make any sense to do all that dramatic re-engineering and re-architecting of the car to basically only have a two-year selling period."

Audi isn't the only automotive manufacturer planning to bring diesel-powered cars to the US. BMW has announced plans for diesels in 2013 and 2014. Mazda has also announced that it will bring its Mazda6 to the U.S. featuring diesel-power.

Don't believe the hype. If you can afford a brand new Audi, you should be able to afford the maintenance. I'm on my second used A4 now and haven't had any major problems with either. If you're even slightly competent with a wrench, you can take care of the oil changes / spark plugs / filters etc. that the dealers charge crazy labor on.

That's because they still occupy the lower rungs in just about every quality ranking. I WILL say they have improved (the industry as a whole has improved significantly). I'd imagine they'll be on par with Ford in their next gen vehicles.